411’s Top 15 WrestleMania Performers (15-13)

Welcome one and all to the 2015 411 Wrestling WrestleMania feature. Over the years we have broken down the big events, ranked the top matches and all sorts of things. This year we have decided to rank our Top WrestleMania Performers of all time. Each staff member was able to give their personal list of top 15 performers, with the 15th ranked wrestler getting one point, the 14th two points and so on and so forth. The staff members were asked to take into account some of the following: 1) match quality, 2) the importance and or significance of their matches and 3) the number of marquee matches they were involved in. Obviously each staff member has their own personal tastes, and views these criteria differently and due to that, weighted them differently. Twenty staff members took part in the voting process. Lets begin…

411’s Top 15 WrestleMania Performers (15-13)

15. Randy Orton – 35 points

Tony Acero: If there was an award for “Consistently Good,” Randy Orton would undoubtedly get the top prize. In my opinion, his “Boreton” nickname is mostly due to his opponents moreso than him, specifically, because the man can go. Yes, we tire of the seemingly forever looped Sheamus vs. Orton matches, but come Mania time, Orton seems to always be on top of his game. From his WrestleMania Debut at WrestleMania XX to his last effort in a Triple Threat, Orton has been “Consistently Good.” Although a few of his matches at Mania had a very obvious lack of build (Orton vs. Kane), or were thrown together rather last-minute (Orton, Sheamus, and The Big Show vs. The Shield), Randy Orton typically stood out as a great grappler come game time. For my tastes, his one-on-ones were far more entertaining with the multi-man matches, save for perhaps the Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 23, even though one can’t put the mark of success solely on the back of Orton.

Another nice match I recall with Orton involved would be the triple threat of The Legacy. I remember some being upset about the burial of DiBiase and Rhodes, but I also remember a crowd firmly behind Orton, including myself, when he punted one of them in the head. Still, there is much to applaud when it came to Orton in the main event matches. Whether it was him versus Mysterio, CM Punk, Triple H and John Cena, or even The Undertaker, Randy Orton put on his working boots each time. I think what I find most enjoyable is just how effortless he made each contest look in terms of putting together a good match.

With a list such as this, you’re going to see a lot of greats, and although Orton cannot hold a candle to some of those higher up, he is still – and likely will always be – Consistently Good.

Mike Hammerlock: Glad to see Orton made this list, as I think he probably ranks as the most underrated performer in WrestleMania history. He’s been in the big show 12 times and almost always delivers in the ring. Having gone back and re-watched each of his efforts, it’s hard not to be impressed with Orton’s body of work at Mania. The matches not only hold up, many of them deserve more respect than they got in their time (though they were generally well-respected). Orton takes heat for the main event with Triple H at WM25, but it was a solid if unspectacular match. His only real clunker was at WM28 against Kane, who might rank as the worst performer in WrestleMania history. Kane is like the kiss of death at Mania.

Yet Orton’s WrestleMania legacy shines brightly despite the Kane blemish. He debuted at WM20 as a member of the now legendary Evolution faction, taking on the Rock and Sock Connection. Orton sealed the victory with an RKO outta nowhere (that’s even how JR called it that night), serving notice he was a star on the rise. At WM21 he put on what I consider an overlooked gem with Undertaker. People forget what the Streak was like before Orton targeted it in his Legend Killer mode. It was mostly crappy matches, a fairly empty 12-0. Orton was the guy who made beating the Streak a bucket list achievement. There’s the Streak before Orton and the Streak after Orton. When he hit the RKO off an attempted chokeslam, the crowd went wild with the anticipation it could be watching a major event in wrestling history. Taker rallied for the win, but Orton took the Streak in a new high stakes, all action direction. Before Orton, you were fighting the Undertaker. After Orton, you were up against the Streak.

Orton worked some other under appreciated tilts: the three-way title match with Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle at WM22, the Money in the Bank thriller at WM23, the intense battle with CM Punk at WM 27 (should have been the headliner) and the frantic clash with Seth Rollins at WM31. Orton was the workhorse in the three-way title match against HHH and John Cena at WM24, where he retained the WWE title and ended Cena’s WrestleMania winning streak. Also, if you go back and watch his handicap match win at WM26 over Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr., you can see how insanely over Viper-mode Orton was at that time.

Yet Orton’s masterpiece was at WM30. My measuring stick for Mania greatness is were you ever in a ****½ or better match. That was the night Orton cemented his WrestleMania legacy. The star of the show was Daniel Bryan, but Orton worked like a demon. Along the way he took one the sickest unintentional bumps you’ll ever see on an announce table monitor, splitting open the back of his shoulder. Orton played a critical role in that match – the rat bastard champ who was every bit as good as he thought he was. He and Bryan carried a still rusty Batista through the match and they gave us a classic.

Orton boasts a really cool WrestleMania resume: three three-way title matches, the Streak, tag matches, a true classic, MITB, handicap matches, show stealers, headliners and a little bit of Kane stink. That’s about as diverse as it gets. Orton wasn’t the main event guy every year, but what he did outshines the ring product of a lot of guys who were consistent main eventers.

14. Chris Jericho – 36 points

Kevin Pantoja : Chris Jericho is a curious case when it comes to WrestleMania. He doesn’t automatically come to mind when you think about great WrestleMania performers. He’s been involved in a fair few, but mostly stayed to the undercard and when he got to actually main event a WrestleMania, it was in an extremely under whelming match. Despite that, Jericho totally belongs on the list and it’s for one main reason. Consistency. Outside of the massive disappointment that was the WrestleMania X8 Undisputed Title match with Triple H, Jericho has always managed to put on solid to great matches. It started in his Mania debut in 2000, when he Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit had the second best match on the show for the European and Intercontinental Titles. A year later, Jericho opened arguably the greatest WrestleMania ever by defeating William Regal in another good match. What really makes Jericho special though, is that he can also do his thing when his competition isn’t exactly top notch. Jericho was able to show off his versatility, one of his strongest abilities, at several Manias. His most recent appearance saw him put over the debuting Fandango in a decent match and a few years before that, he took on three legends and got a surprisingly strong match out of them (though Ricky Steamboat was a key part of that). Put Jericho high on the card and, outside of WMX8, he’ll deliver like he did in World Title matches at both WrestleMania 26 and 28 against Edge and CM Punk, respectively. Put Chris Jericho on the undercard and he’ll very likely take part in one of the better matches on the show like he did at XX and 21 against Christian and in the first ever Money in the Bank. Even with many strong performances, the absolute pinnacle of Jericho’s career at WrestleMania came in 2003. Shawn Michaels had just returned from a four year hiatus and was in need of an opponent for his first WrestleMania back. Jericho took on HBK in a fantastic match and rivalry. Not only did it go down as the best Jericho Mania match, but it was also a top five Michaels Mania match, which is saying something considering his track record. Simply put, Jericho’s consistent ability to work different kinds of good matches with a variety of opponents makes him one of the better WrestleMania performers of all time.

Dylan Diot: When I think of Chris Jericho’s performances at WrestleMania, the word that comes to mind is consistency. In terms of total match quality, Jericho has been one of the best performers in the history of the showcase of the immortals. Jericho’s matches have ranged from decent to all-time great. Even when the matches don’t reach expectations or seemed destined to fail, Jericho consistently gives great performances that help the matches reach levels worthy of the biggest show of the year. Whether he was in the opener, handicap matches, multi-man matches, or the main event, you could always expect Jericho to bring his A-Game to the big dance.

Jericho’s initial WrestleMania matches were good if not totally memorable. He won the WWF European Championship in a two fall triple threat match against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit at WrestleMania XVI and defended his WWF Intercontinental Championship against William Regal in a solid opening contest at WrestleMania X7. At WrestleMania X8, Jericho would become the first man to go from the opening match to the main event of WrestleMania in a two year span. However, this accolade was overshadowed by the terrible storyline heading into the match where Jericho played third wheel to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. With a bad storyline coming in and dealing with a burned out crowd coming off the Hogan/Rock match earlier in the show, Jericho’s lone WrestleMania main event fell flat and was a huge disappointment.

Jericho would go from his low point to his greatest WrestleMania achievement the next year, competing in one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIX. The match was a classic story of the cocky wrestler trying to prove he has surpassed his idol. The match was a wrestling clinic and really brought Michaels back to form after his return from a severe back injury. Jericho would continues his great match streak over the next two years, putting on a hidden gem with Christian at WrestleMania XX and took part in the inaugural Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania XXI, an incredible spectacle that launched one of the premier gimmicks in the current history of the WWE in the Money in the Bank briefcase.

Jericho would go out to have a collection of really underrated WrestleMania matches over the next several years. His second Money in the Bank match appearance at WrestleMania XXIV along with matches with Edge at WrestleMania XXVI and CM Punk at WrestleMania XXVII were near show stealers. He pulled a miracle out of his ass at WrestleMania XXV, getting as good match as you could have against Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper, and Ricky Steamboat in a handicap elimination match, with the final stretch between him and Steamboat blowing everyone away as Steamboat seemed to have found the fountain of youth. His most recent outing at WrestleMania XXIX against Fandango is probably his least memorable, but was still a decent effort on his part to try to put him over, which with retrospect ended up being a waste.

Jericho was never the guy who was the featured attraction at WrestleMania or whose matches were the focal point in the lead up to the shows. However, you could always count on Jericho to bring the best out of himself and his opponents at the big dance. His match quality at WrestleMania is really under appreciated and because of his incredible effort in each of his matches, he deserves a place on the list of greatest WrestleMania performers.

13. CM Punk – 39 points

Ronny Sarnecky: Despite what the record books show, CM Punk actually made his first WrestleMania appearance at WrestleMania 22 when he portrayed a gangster in John Cena’s main event entrance against Triple H. Punk wrestled at seven WrestleManias, which is 22.5% of all WrestleManias. Despite not being what the WWE was looking for in their top superstars, Punk made the most of his WrestleMania opportunities. In his first three WrestleMania matches, CM Punk participated in the Money in the Bank ladder matches. He won the Money in the Bank matches at WrestleMania XXIV and XXV. Both victories led to World Heavyweight title reigns following successful cash ins against Edge and Jeff Hardy, respectively. At WrestleMania XXVI and XXVII, he battled perennial main event level wrestlers, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. At WrestleMania XXVIII, he battled Chris Jericho for the WWE Championship in the second best match on the show. At WrestleMania XXIX, he stole the show by becoming the Undertaker’s final victim before the “deadman’s” WrestleMania winning streak would come to an end. Many fans argued that their match should have gone on last that night. Over his WrestleMania career, CM Punk wrestled no worse than a three-star match. Two of his seven WrestleMania contests were over four stars, with the Undertaker match being the highest at four and a half stars. CM Punk had an extremely successful WrestleMania career. The only blemish is that he never wrestled in the main event WrestleMania match. However, that was more due to bad luck than it was on his ability. During CM Punk’s peak of WrestleManias XXVII-XXIX, it could be argued that Punk could have easily been in any of the three main events. However, he was the victim of The Rock coming back to the WWE. In hindsight, the WWE should have booked him as the heel against John Cena at WrestleMania XXVII because he was more deserving than the Miz. That’s taking nothing away from the Miz, as he was doing very well as a heel at the time. WrestleMania XXVIII was in Miami, The Rock’s hometown, for his return after being gone since 2004. However, there was no excuse for him to not be included in the WrestleMania XXIX main event, whether turning the John Cena vs. The Rock II into a triple threat match, or by putting his match with the Undertaker on last. During this time frame, CM Punk was truly the “Best in the World.” It’s also why he is well deserving to be listed as one of the Top 15 Performers in WrestleMania History by 411mania.

Mike Hammerlock: A few minutes into his WrestleMania career Punk got busted open in a Money in the Bank match when Edge bounced a mini-ladder off his skull. I’m fairly certain that’s the Mania record for quickest to bleed. That tells you everything you need to know about Punk. Full commitment, ready to bleed for the cause, making his mark from the very first moment he hit the industry’s biggest stage. When Larry Csonka announced 411 was doing a list of the top Mania performers of all time, I did a list of the 50 most notable names of all time to compete in the big event and plugged their snowflake ratings from Dave Meltzer into a spreadsheet (yeah, I’m a nerd). Punk’s average fell among the super elite, 7th overall, 0.037 behind Kurt Angle. First place was, no surprise, Shawn Michaels. Last place was, also no surprise, Hulk Hogan. As for Punk, the 411 list has him way too low.

Punk worked seven WrestleMania matches without a single clunker in the bunch. His work output ranged from good to spectacular. In fact, he was a huge part of the WWE putting together deeper, top-to-bottom entertaining Mania cards during the past decade. Punk always made sure you got your money’s worth. He started his run at the WM23 MITB match, which was a particularly bruising installment of that one-time WrestleMania staple. Punk and Finlay bled for the cause. Edge went out on a stretcher after Jeff Hardy hit a 20-foot leg drop to put him through a ladder. Mr. Kennedy hit a senton bomb off a ladder on Hornswoggle. Punk almost won with strong style kicks to Kane’s head at the top of the ladder until Kennedy pounced for the victory. Then Punk won MITB at WM24 and WM25, first guy ever to do it twice.

His worst match was at WM26 against Rey Mysterio, which is the best worst Mania match in the career of any WWE wrestler. That’s Punk’s absolute basement, a match that was better than roughly half of the main events in Mania history. Hidden highlight: Punk crotches himself on the ring post early in the match and never stops selling it. Then we get to the strange, but excellent portion of Punk’s career. If you had the power to go back in time and redo a Road to WrestleMania and the event itself, you couldn’t do better than pick WM27. The Cena-Miz main event was garbage. Punk vs. Orton blew it out of the water and, had the WWE title been involved, it could have approached greatness. Punk sought retribution for Orton’s past sins. He was a bad guy who had a righteous cause and there was no limit to how far he’d go to exact his vengeance. Totally underrated match with great psychology. At WM28 Punk was the reigning, defending WWE champion, taking on Chris Jericho in an extremely personal feud.

Yet Punk’s WrestleMania masterpiece was WM29 against the Undertaker. He hit the Deadman with everything. They worked a classic. The next year Brock Lesnar would break the Streak in a disappointing match. The WWE gave the Streak to Lesnar, but the year before Punk earned the right to break the Streak. It should have ended with an epic. Punk delivered it, but they booked the wrong result. That turned into Punk’s WrestleMania swansong. Had he wanted to, Punk was the guy who could have stepped into Shawn Michaels’ role of Mr. WrestleMania. He was that good and it’s a crying shame he didn’t main event a WrestleMania or three.

The List So Far
15. Randy Orton – 35 points
14. Chris Jericho – 36 points
13. CM Punk – 39 points

– Come back tomorrow as we discuss 12-10…